Fair week at the Washakie County Fairgrounds began with an electrical failure—and, as one fair board member put it, “with a bang.” On Monday, July 20, a transformer failed and caught fire at the grounds, turning the start of the week into a repair effort for local crews and utility workers.
A photo caption in the Northern Wyoming News described a Worland volunteer firefighter wetting down a power pole while an oil-filled unit burned. The action was intended to help prevent further damage. The article does not describe injuries or report how many people were at the fair, so the incident’s impact should not be confused with a report of a crowded opening.
The cause of the failure was not known. Washakie County Maintenance Supervisor Heath Kiser told county commissioners that he did not know what had made the transformer fail. Several inflatables were operating nearby, and many campers were on the fairgrounds; every camping spot was full. Those details provide a picture of the busy site, but the article does not say that either the inflatables or the campers caused the electrical problem.
The transformer served more than the fairgrounds. It also supplied power to the city cemetery’s sprinkler system. Sheriff Austin Brookwell and Kiser said live wires were running along the back of the cemetery without conduit. At a Tuesday council meeting, Public Works Director Nick Kruger reported that part of the sprinkler system was not working and that crews were giving repairs priority.
Rocky Mountain Power replaced the transformer on Monday night, installing a unit with higher capacity. Kiser said officials told him that the older transformer had already been scheduled for replacement, although that work had not yet been completed when it failed.
The replacement restored an important piece of equipment, but the report also points to the practical work that followed: firefighters acted to limit further damage, utility workers changed out the transformer, and public works crews focused on the cemetery sprinkler repairs. The exact cause remains unknown, and the article does not claim that the nearby activity was responsible.
So the fair’s first “bang” was not a celebration or a sign of what caused the failure. It was an unexpected problem at the beginning of fair week—one that affected power serving both the fairgrounds and the cemetery, and prompted a quick response from local and utility crews.
Source: Blown transformer starts fair off with a “bang”, Northern Wyoming News
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